How to spot scams like Raiffeisen Bank email scam
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is the Raiffeisen Bank email scam?
Our team has analyzed this email and found that it is disguised as a letter from a bank called Raiffeisen (a legitimate banking company). It is written in the Czech language and contains a website link. Scammers behind it attempt to trick recipients into providing sensitive information on a deceptive page.
More about the Raiffeisen Bank phishing email
This email is disguised as a letter from the Raiffeisen bank. It requests to confirm the telephone number to continue to use the bank's online services without exceptions. It also claims that the update must be made by April 30, 2022. Otherwise, the bank account will be blocked, and it will be necessary to go to one of the Raiffeisen bank's branches to unblock it.
The email instructs recipients to click the provided link and update the telephone number via the opened page. At the time of our research, that page was down. Scammers behind this email could be seeking to obtain bank account login credentials, credit card details, and (or) other sensitive information.
| Name | Raiffeisen Bank Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | The telephone number must be updated to continue using the bank account |
| Disguise | Letter from the Raiffeisen bank |
| Symptoms | Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains. |
| Damage | Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Similar scams in general
Emails used to trick recipients into providing sensitive information are called phishing emails. Examples of other emails of this type are "New Policy Notice Email Scam", "Ministerio De Sanidad Email Scam", "Your Account Will Be Suspended In 48hrs Email Scam".
Typically, such emails are disguised as important/official/urgent letters from legitimate entities (for instance, banks, email service providers). It is important to know that emails can also be used as tools to deliver malicious software.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Emails used to distribute malware have malicious attachments or website links in them. Either way, cybercriminals behind them seek to trick recipients into executing a malicious file. They use Microsoft Office, PDF or other documents, JavaScript files, executables, archives like ZIP, RAR, and other files to deliver malware via email.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Do not open links and attachments in irrelevant emails sent from unknown addresses. Keep in mind that cybercriminals behind malicious emails usually pretend to be legitimate entities. Also, always use legitimate (official) websites and direct links as sources for downloading programs and files.
Update and activate installed programs with tools provided by their official developers. Keep the operating system (and programs installed on it) up to date. If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the Raiffeisen Bank email:
Subject: Fwd:Potvrdte telefonni cislo!
Raiffeisen BANKVážený zákazníku,
Od Raiffeisen Bank jste obdrželi novou zprávu potvrzující vaše zabezpečené telefonní číslo, abyste mohli bez výjimky nadále využívat naše online služby.
Aktualizaci musíte dokončit do 30. dubna 2022, jinak bude váš účet zablokován a budete muset zajít na některou z našich poboček Raiffeisen Bank.
Ověřte své telefonní číslo kliknutím na odkaz níže:
Klikněte sem pro potvrzení mého telefonního čísla
Raiffeisen Bank
Copyright 2022, Raiffeisenbank S.p.A, Praha.
Yet another example of Raiffeisen bank-themed spam email promoting a phishing site (fake Raiffeisen bank website):
Text presented within:
Subject: Contul dvs. este în curs de examinare și necesită verificare !
Raiffeisen BANK
Dragă client,
Ne pare rău să vă informăm că accesul la smartToken a fost temporar dezactivat din motive de securitate.
Ceea ce ar trebui să faci?
Faceți clic pe butonul de mai jos pentru a deschide o fereastră de browser securizată și urmați instrucțiunile.
Autentificare
Notă:cverificați imediat contul de identitate pentru a evita blocarea permanentă a accesului.
©Raiffeisen'Bank 2004-2022
Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:
Instant automatic malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
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Quick menu:
- What is Raiffeisen Bank phishing email?
- Types of malicious emails.
- How to spot a malicious email?
- What to do if you fell for an email scam?
Types of malicious emails:
Phishing Emails
Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.
Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.
After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.
Emails with Malicious Attachments
Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.
In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.
If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.
While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.
Sextortion Emails
This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.
To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.
How to spot a malicious email?
While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:
- Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
- Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
- Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
- Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.
To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
Example of a spam email:
What to do if you fell for an email scam?
- If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
- If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
- If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
- If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
- Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why did I receive this email?
In most cases, scammers use email addresses obtained after data breaches. They send the same email to all addresses. Thus, their emails are not personal.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you have provided your bank account login credentials, then change all passwords immediately. If you have provided credit card details, ID card information, or other information, contact corresponding authorities as soon as possible.
I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
If the file was an executable, then most certainly yes. In other cases, files do not infect computers until users perform additional steps (for example, enable macros in MS Office documents, extract archive files).
I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, opening an email is harmless.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove almost all known malware infections. It is required to scan computers using a full scan when they are infected with high-end malware. Such malware often hides deep in the operating system (it is not enough to run a quick scan to detect it).
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